Jay Henry, right, is followed by Michael Barrett on the Haymaker trail during the Battle at Bellyache race in Eagle on Wednesday. Efforts from Eagle mayor Yuri Kostick to create the trail earned him the National Interscholastic Cycling Association’s community impact award.

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EAGLE — If Yuri Kostick has his way, he will soon be known as the “Mayor of Mountain Biking.” And the town of Eagle he presides over will be recognized as Colorado’s new mountain biking mecca.

“This is what we do,” the 42-year-old Eagle mayor said of his community’s love of off-road riding. “There are way more trails in Eagle than you can ride in a weekend, and the terrain is all accessible from downtown. If you live here, your driveway is the trailhead.”

While local momentum among knobby-tired dirt riders has been building for about 20 years, the discovery of Eagle’s estimated 70-100 miles of trails by those outside of the county more readily recognized for the downhill skiing amenities of Vail and Beaver Creek has only recently started gaining traction. But prevailing opinion holds that Eagle has landed in the mountain biking world.